


Juggling Apples

by eclipsingbinary



Series: Recovery Tales [2]
Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Ledior Vaude's A+ Parenting, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27440992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eclipsingbinary/pseuds/eclipsingbinary
Summary: Ledior and Liliane Vaude hold a party to celebrate Langris's seventh birthday and  show off his spatial magic to the Magic Knights.  They know that Grey Deer Magic Knight Julius Novachrono is fascinated with interesting magic.  Surely he'll want to see what 'darling Langris' can do.Julius is not holding out much hope of finding any interesting magic here.  He is delighted to be proved wrong.  It is just that this is the other son.Years later, when Finral needs it most, the Wizard King reminds him of the little corner of the Vaude gardens and the air full of apples.
Relationships: Finral Roulacase & Yami Sukehiro, Julius Novachrono & Finral Roulacase, Julius Novachrono & Yami Sukehiro, Vanessa Enoteca & Finral Roulacase
Series: Recovery Tales [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2004724
Comments: 37
Kudos: 129





	1. Then

**Author's Note:**

> This is first of the Recovery Tales following on from _Crazy Trust Thing_. Owen said months of recovery time, and I'm not finished with those stories by a long shot. 
> 
> This one expands on Julius's first meeting with Finral as a kid, because the idea of juggling apples just wouldn't leave my head alone. And who doesn't want to see little Finral anyway? Next chapter will bring us back to a few months after _Crazy Trust Thing._

“How long are you gonna be gone?” Yami asked.

Julius could tell that the boy was, well, not worried. He had never seen Yami worried. Perhaps concerned? Cautious? Excited?

It was to be expected. He had only been in the Capital a few weeks and now his sponsor and ‘damn landlord’ was abandoning him for a noble family party in the sticks. The invitation had been for one, so no teenage tagalongs even if Yami had shown any inclination in attending.

“Only one night. Use the time to practice your reading and writing. I’ve left some training exercises for you and there is enough food in the larder for even your appetite. There is some money if you want to get something from the market, and, so long as you take care of the house, you may bring home one guest.”

Yami said, “Yeah, sure.”

Julius was entertaining no illusions. Yami was planning to invite Jack round to pig out on food and alcohol from the market and wreck the house. They’d spend the two hours before Julius was due to return trying to put the place back together again.

Teenagers forgot that everyone was young once.

“So. Where are you going?” the boy asked. He was trying not to look interested. 

“An estate near Tota. The family are having a celebration for their son’s birthday.”

“Is that a thing you do here? Seems like a lot of fuss for something that happens every year.” 

“Well, no. But perhaps for special birthdays.”

“How old is the brat.”

“I think the invitation said it was his seventh birthday.”

“And that’s a special one?”

“No. Not as far as I know. I rather think the family are wanting to show the boy off. Tota is out of the way so it’s hard to just drop his magic into conversations with the right people. It’s supposed to be rather lavish. All the best nobility are being invited.”

“Sounds boring.”

Julius agreed. “I’m afraid the duties of a magic knight aren’t only taking down bandits and miscreants. Sometimes they have to show up to social occasions too.”

The boy grunted. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t drink too much with Jack. And no smoking in the house.” Julius said as he closed the door behind him. He liked to think that Yami was shocked at that, but he would not give him the satisfaction of looking back.

\--

Julius met up with Owen. The recovery mage had been nominated to attend the birthday celebration by his dour boss. Her opinion on the event was similar to Yami’s despite the sixty years age difference. 

“So,” Owen asked as they climbed on their brooms. “I thought the Vaudes were known for spatial magic. How come we are going by broom?”

Yami would have said, ‘They’re obnoxious snobs.’

Julius aimed for more diplomacy than his charge. “I think they feel that spatial magic as a form of transportation is somewhat demeaning?”

Owen muttered something that might have been, “Obnoxious snobs.”

There would be a portal to the estate for the higher ranks later that day. No-one expected the Clovers or the Silvas to fly. But lowly magic knights were expected to get there themselves. Thankfully, Owen was good company and in possession of the best gossip in the city. The weather was pleasant so the two hour flight was less onerous than it might have been in other circumstances. 

Owen had met Yami once and could not hide his fascination with the boy. So Julius had to provide updates on the progress he was making. It seemed that Owen was less interested in the boy’s Dark Magic and more in his social development. “Jack, hmmm. I met him. Interesting lad. A bit intimidating, but I think there is a good heart in there.”

They discussed Owen’s training in the infirmary and the various characters that had attended to be healed this week - an ice mage with a broken toe after his ice hammer landed on his own foot and a pair of noble children with scratches from some kind of large feline. 

As they neared Tota, their conversation turned to the event they were due to be attending. Neither of them had met the Vaude family outside of large social gatherings in the city. As always, Owen was a much better source of information than Julius was.

“The family is known for its spatial magic, but they tend to go in for the offensive stuff. Ledior was always a fairly mediocre magic knight. He married another magic knight, who was rather beneath him in social rank. It was quite the scandal at the time. The boss said she thought they might have had a kid, but then the wife died.”

This jogged Julius’s memory of a fascinating young woman he had met as a child. “I think I remember her,” he said. “She was very interesting. Hannan Roulacase. She had wonderful ‘finding’ magic. She could locate people and things that she had seen before across the whole country. It was rather wonderful, and she was a very patient lady. I think I pestered her for a whole day once. I was sad that she died. I didn’t know that she had a child.”

“Well, it’s just what the boss says. Maybe the child died too. Afterwards, Ledior married a member of a more substantial noble family, with what the boss calls ‘unusual haste’. There was a son soon after. This Langris. Seems that Ledior has aspirations for social advancement, and Langris is the way he thinks he can achieve it.”

“What’s the boy’s magic like?”

Owen laughed. “Typical, Julius. It’s just about the magic for you.”

Julius would never try to deny it.

“Offensive spatial magic. Flashy, good for taking out trees you don’t need any more. Impressive for a seven year old.”

Julius laughed. “Magic doesn’t need to be flashy to be interesting.”

“I knew you’d think that. If nothing else, the food should be good.”

\--

Owen was wrong. The food was terrible. It was the kind of stuff that might fill a small sparrow's stomach, but not fully grown magic knights. Entertainment was provided by a local musical group who were adequate at best. The overall impression was of a party for twenty people trying to accommodate two hundred. Julius toyed with the idea of escaping early but he did not want to walk into whatever mischief Yami was getting up to. 

He remained polite as he talked to all the nobles that he normally spent his time avoiding in the City. The King, of course, was not there, but some of the Finesse and Silva families were. There was so much fawning and toadying that even Julius felt his manners fray. 

“Master Novachrono,” a well dressed lady said, offering her hand to be kissed. “I am Liliane Vaude. I’m so pleased that you could come.”

“I am glad to have been invited. Your home is lovely,” Julius said. It was a bland enough compliment to keep him out of trouble.

“Why, thank you. So, I hear you are interested in unusual magic. Perhaps you would like to come and meet the dear birthday boy? He’s just outside. I’m sure you will find his demonstration fascinating.”

Julius glanced around for Owen for support, but the recovery mage was chatting to, or chatting up, one of the house staff and seemed to be having a much better time than anyone else in the vicinity. Julius allowed himself to be led outside by Liliane.

There was a small gathering of bored looking mages already on the lawn when they arrived. Julius could not see anyone that he knew well enough to join, so he stood apart from the others. He admired the neat lawns and flower beds of the gardens. He had never been to this estate before. It was lovely, if perhaps a little over-manicured for his tastes. 

Ledior brought out the boy soon afterwards to Julius’s relief. The mages were beginning to get fractious from not enough food and insufficient wine to quell their appetites. 

The boy was small for his age, with light brown hair and a haughty expression. Julius’s first impression was that this was a child who felt he was special. He ignored the adults around him with the practiced polish of royalty ignoring the beggar peasants on the street. The boy positioned himself opposite an elderly looking hay barn. 

The parents were the only ones who looked interested, until Langris let loose his spell and destroyed the barn’s roof.

Well, Julius thought, it was a powerful spell, no disputing that. And at such a young age it was rather impressive. The other mages also showed a little more interest, at least for a moment. 

Ledior said, “I hope everyone had a chance to see that. Perhaps you could do it again for those who didn’t get a chance, Langris.”

Langris scowled. A piece of the barn’s roof that had survived the initial impact collapsed into the rubble. 

“I will do it one more time, father,” Langris said. “Then I am going to my room.” Without seeming effort, he cast the same spell again and took out another chunk of the unfortunate building. 

He did not acknowledge his father or any of the mages who had been brought there to watch him. He walked back towards the house as the barn gave up its existence and collapsed.

Despite himself Julius was intrigued, but less by the magic and more by the child. The magic itself was as flashy as Owen had said, but it was no different each time the child had cast it. That was to be expected at this stage of magic development, but it was no more skill then any noble child could be expected to show at this age. It was only slightly bigger in scale and Julius knew that bigger magic did not mean better.

The child’s response to his father was more interesting and even a little disturbing. What did his poor manners mean about the education the child was receiving? Could there be more development under other skilled hands? 

The other mages’ initial buzz of interest faded away to other affairs. They wandered back towards the centre of the party now that the demonstration seemed to be over.

The nobles who had watched the barn’s destruction were gushing to the Vaudes. Julius heard one say, “Such power, so young,” while another said, “Captain material no doubt.” The magic knights themselves seemed less impressed.

The time dragged by with more forced socialising than Julius had done in a while. He found himself wishing for an afternoon in the library in the Capital. Even an afternoon trying to teach Yami to write Clover script would be more interesting than this. 

Liliane Vaude had done her research and knew Julius’s interest in curious magic. She seemed to have decided that her darling Langris’s magic was just what Julius was looking for. He spent the latter part of the afternoon trying to hide from her enthusiastic advances.

That was why he found himself in a secluded area of the garden away from the bustle of the party. The majority of the garden was neat and well tended, but this small corner was overgrown and almost wild. It was a welcome reprieve from the party. It was alive with insects and a feeder busy with small chattering birds.

Julius sat on a stone bench to watch the birds for a moment when he felt the unmistakable tug of magic behind him. It was a subtle pull, as subtle as Langris’s had been dramatic. Intrigued, Julius peered through the branches of an old apple tree.

Another small boy was standing the middle of a piece of untended grass. He was juggling apples. 

At least, at first glance it looked like he was juggling. The clearing seemed full of apples in the air, but none hit the ground. It took time for Julius to understand what he was seeing.

The boy was keeping them in the air by creating small portals no larger than the apples themselves. Each time an apple got close to the ground, it would vanish into a portal to reappear higher in the air. Some reappeared through vertical portals, others upside down so that they were falling upwards. Julius thought there were probably four apples in all, but the movements were so fast it was hard to be sure. 

Julius wanted to clap in delight, but managed to restrain himself so that he did not disturb the boy’s concentration. There was sweat beaded on his forehead but he seemed capable of holding the apples up for as long as he wanted. 

Julius picked up a discarded apple and said, “Catch,” as he threw it over the boy’s head and into the clearing. 

The boy squawked in fright. He managed one further portal for Julius’s apple, but the rest dropped onto the ground in quick succession. He turned around to face the man with trepidation. 

“Sorry,” Julius said and shrugged. “I was watching for a while and you were doing very well.”

The boy blushed. He was a little taller than Langris with the same colouration and build. Julius guessed a relation. Perhaps a cousin.

“I’m Julius Novachrono of the Grey Deer Magic Knight Squad. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m Finral,” the boy said, then in a rush. “Sorry, I’m not meant to be in your way today. I can go somewhere else.”

“You aren’t in my way Finral. I was enjoying your magic. Spatial magic?”

Finral was edging away as he said, “Yes. It’s not a very good spell, and I really should be getting back to the house now.”

“Wait, Finral. I’m sorry for surprising you.” Julius sat on the ground and tried to make himself as unthreatening as possible. “You aren’t in any trouble. To be honest, the party was getting a bit boring. I was looking for a quiet place to sit away from Mistress Vaude.”

Finral goggled at him. A small smile crept onto his face. With caution he walked back to Julius and sat on the grass beside him. Each movement was slow, as if he expected to be to be told to leave. Once he was seated, he said, “Liliane doesn’t come here. She doesn’t like it. It was my mother’s part of the garden, and my father won’t let her change it. So she just pretends it isn’t here. I don't think anyone ever visits.”

“Is that why you practice your magic here?”

This time the boy looked ashamed. He stared at his hands as he said, “It’s just a transportation spell. It’s nothing special. My father said he would be ashamed if anyone saw it, so I try to practice with it out of the way. I should have stayed indoors today, then I wouldn’t have bothered anyone. Say, did you meet Langris?”

“Yes. He showed us his big spell.”

Finral was grinning with genuine pleasure. “All his teachers say that is remarkable for his age. I’m afraid my spatial magic isn’t quite like that, and, well, I really don’t want to use it to hurt anyone.”

“Or barns?” Julius asked.

The boy giggled. 

“So,” Julius said as he picked up an apple and tossed it into the air. “How many can you do?”

“Well. Three are easy. I never drop them. If I concentrate I can do four for a while. I always drop the fifth one.”

Julius clapped his hands together. “That’s a remarkable level of precision and speed, you know. I don’t think I know any magic knights who could do that, and you don’t even have your grimoire yet. Will you show me again?”

“It’s just transportation though. I’ve never shown it to anyone before. Spatial magic should have better applications than just moving things from one place to another. Magic knights have much better magic than this.”

“All kinds of magic are needed for a squad. Yes, offensive magic is important, but so is support.” Julius threw his apple into the air and caught it in a time bubble. “My kind of magic wouldn’t do much good on it’s own without my teammates' help. Your magic might be the same.”

The boy was thoughtful. 

Julius released his time frozen apple, then picked up three more from the ground. He threw them into the air one at a time without warning. Finral made portals for all four and launched them back into the air. He was concentrating hard again, but there was a grin on his face. 

“On the count of three I’m going to put another one in. Ready. One, two, three.”

Julius threw the fifth apple into the space. This time Finral caught it and sent it with the others. For half a minute he kept all five in the air before one dropped. The others fell too.

Finral whooped for joy, then stopped and glanced around as if checking that no one else had heard. In a quiet voice he said, “That was brilliant. I’ve never managed five before! Can you do it again?”

By the time the sky was darkening, Finral could keep five apples in the air for a time. Julius had him practice with only three until they could do aerobatics. He was working on sending them to his hand as well as aiming all three into the same portal. Julius was grinning as much as the boy. He had suggested they take a break for dinner, but Finral had asked to stay longer. “So long as it isn’t a bother, sir.”

They had eaten a couple of the less bruised apples instead and continued with their impromptu training session. The boy chatted away happily as he worked. Owen would have been impressed by the new knowledge Julius was acquiring on the ins and outs of the Vaude household. Finral was open that he was Ledior’s eldest son and that his mother Hannan had died when he was very small. He doted on his younger brother, had a wary caution regarding his father and stepmother and an interest in everything around them. He told Julius the names of the flowers in the garden and the birds on the feeders as well as the characters of the household staff. 

Finral’s concentration was beginning to wane as evening neared, but he still bounced on his toes despite his tiredness. Five apples seemed to be his limit for the moment, but he was able to move them around in much tighter formation even with an afternoon of gentle instruction. It was an impressive display for a child. “I’m eight. I’m older than Langris by a whole year, but you wouldn’t know because he is much better at everything.” There was no hint of bitterness in his tone, only an earnest pride in his brother’s accomplishments. 

By the time it was too dark to see where the apples were in the air, Julius had to insist that they return to the house. 

The boy had nodded. “I’ll go back in a minute. My father said I wasn’t to bother the guests today and I think I might have bothered you a lot. I’m going to learn to make my portals bigger so I can use them to get into my room without anyone noticing. You won’t tell them that you saw me, will you?”

“If you wish. But Finral, please understand that this afternoon was my special pleasure. I’ve had a lovely time. I hope you will continue practicing with your magic. You’ve got an unusual skill for this kind of thing. When you get your grimoire, I’m sure you’ll make a marvellous magic knight.”

“But my father says…”

“Your father doesn’t decide who becomes a magic knight. Not everyone thinks the same way.”

The boy looked unconvinced. “Magic knights need to have good magic to get into a squad. This is just for transportation and party tricks. He would not be pleased if I brought shame on the Vaude family name by using spatial magic to move stuff around.”

Julius knelt on the grass so he could look Finral in the eye. “You aren’t just a Vaude though, are you. We are all the product of both our parents and our place in the world. I met your mother, and she had remarkable magic of her own. If you are worried about the Vaude family name, remember that Roulacase is also one to be proud of.” He placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “When you are fifteen, I’m sure we’ll find a place for you and that magic of yours.”

“Really. Okay. I could do that. Bye sir. I hope I see you again.” And he dodged off into the undergrowth.

When Julius returned to the party he found that he had not been missed. Large quantities of wine had been liberated from a wine cellar and the magic knights in attendance were enjoying themselves now. Even the nobles seemed to have loosened up. Julius, as one of the few sober attendees at the moment, thought that Ledior looked less impressed than the party goers. Perhaps the liberated wine had not been meant for a seventh birthday party.

Julius was thinking that he might try to track Owen down and see if he was ready to return to their lodgings in Tota when Liliane Vaude found him and said, “Ah, Master Novachrono. Are you having a good time? Please tell us honestly what you thought of Langris’s magic. Isn’t it rather special.” She was flushed and holding an empty wine glass. Ledior on the other hand looked stone cold sober and furious.

“Langris has some remarkable magic Mr and Mrs Vaude. He’ll be a valuable asset to a magic knight squad if he keeps working hard.”

Liliane seemed pleased with the assessment. She walked away to chat to other guests, but Julius caught her husband’s arm and said in a quiet voice. “Sir, I wanted to ask about your other son?”

Ledior looked like he had swallowed something bitter. His reply was a hissed whisper. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Julius was taken aback. Was the man pretending that he did not have another son? Julius had assumed Finral’s nerves at the risk of being caught were concerns over a minor transgression. Julius had planned apologise for disturbing the boy and to compliment the father on his son's obvious skill. He had considered offering tuition with one of the specialists in his squad. 

Now the request to keep the meeting secret took on another, more serious meaning. “I… I heard that you had another son,” Julius said. He hoped it was not too obvious that he had been about to say something else. “I wondered if he showed any similar talents.”

“No. No talents of any note. If you will excuse me.” Ledior said and flushed red despite the chill in the air. He left to follow his wife. 

Julius thought he might like to find Owen and get out of here. And if that was not possible he was going to find a drink of his own.

\--

“So, how was your party,” Yami said. The house smelt of cleaning fluid that did not quite cover the aroma of stale cigarettes and alcohol. “How was the magic?”

“Some of it was very interesting.”

“That’s good. I didn’t miss you.”

“No. Good. So, how’s the studying getting on?”

“Fine.”

Julius added a book to the table. Its title was, _‘Magic Knight Squad Captain Handbook’._

Yami looked at it and scowled. “You trying to say something, Julius.”

Julius said, “You can never be too prepared for the future."


	2. Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is set a few months after the events of _Crazy Trust Thing_. You don't have to read that first, but it will explain what is going on better than can be fitted into the exposition here.

“I can’t.”

“Finral. Owen says there’s no reason why you can’t use your magic.”

The boy crossed his arms and scowled at Yami. “So. I don’t care what he says. You said you wouldn’t force me.”

“I’m not forcing you,” Yami said.

“See, but you are. You’re doing that scary expression with the eyes and the looming and the…” Finral squeaked and stepped back. 

“And it can't be that scary if you are still not using your magic. Are you sure you really are a coward?”

“Yes. And I’m not doing it. You can’t make me.”

Yami was getting soft, he thought as he watched the kid march back into the hideout no closer to using his magic. Maybe he should just pick him up and shake him, but the way he was standing up to the looming seemed to mean that he was serious. 

Owen had been clear that there was no medical reason that Finral could not use his magic the way he had before he had been injured. The severe headaches were much rarer and the infection in his chest had cleared. He could stay awake for most of a day and had not passed out for weeks. The inconsolable crying and sudden swells of panic were fading, and the word stumbles had almost gone. He still had nightmares and the concentration span of an irritable toddler, but it seemed that things were improving. Yet he still would not even attempt a portal.

Vanessa had talked to him and tried to encourage him gently, but he had put his foot down as firmly for her as he had for Yami. Charmy kept asking if there was some food that would help. She plied them with so many weird herbal remedies that Yami started asking visitors to bring him take out from the Capital. Gordon was no use at all, and refused to help put pressure on Finral.

Yami was so sick of brooms.

By the time he went back into the hideout, Finral had made himself scarce. The urge to check on the boy was still there, but Yami resisted. He ignored the memory of the splash of water in the bathroom weeks ago that replayed in his head. The boy was much better. He did not need checking up on every second, but it was a hard habit to break. At least he would not be on the damn roof if he would not open a portal.

Yami sat and cracked open a beer. Time to call in the big guns. He pulled out a sheet of paper and began writing a letter. 

\--

Yami would be disappointed to know that Finral was on the roof. It was not so hard if you were prepared to climb out of the right windows.

He sat with arms wrapped around his bent legs and his head resting on his knees. He knew Yami was right. He knew Vanessa was right. He had heard Owen say it out of his own mouth. There was no physical reason that he could not just carry on making portals the way he had since he was a child. 

No physical reason. All the mental reasons in the world it seemed.

He knew the forms. The tickle of the mana was at the edge of his senses all the time. He could feel the corners in the world laid out before him like points on a huge intricate tapestry. How could something that had been a part of him for so long now fill him with overwhelming terror? He felt like he was missing a chunk of who he was. 

He was being pathetic. 

Every time he tried to send his brain down the paths that used to be so natural, it was as if a man with dark eyes and a shaved head was in the way. He could feel something tight around his neck and he could not breathe. Pain would lance through his head. 

Now he could feel the headache building across his skull even when he thought about it. He could not bring himself to look at his own grimoire.

He wiped the tears off his face. Damn. What a mess. 

If he couldn’t use his magic, what was the point of him being a Black Bull. The clue was in the name. How could you be a magic knight if you were too scared to use your own magic? Three months since he’d woken up and he had been nothing but a burden to everyone since.

Well, as Langris said, he’d run away from his responsibility before. He could do it again. He climbed back in the window and to wherever his bedroom was this time.

\--

He could not decide whether his teammates were able to read his mind or if they were just being more annoying at the moment. He was never alone for more than five minutes for two whole days. Vanessa joined him in the common areas, Charmy made him eat meals with her in the kitchen and he would swear that Gordon was stalking him around the place. Yami would be nearby every time he went outdoors. His packed bag was prepared in his room, but he could never shake the rest of the team long enough to get away. 

The only time he thought he might have a chance was when Charmy took Vanessa and Gordon to see the new vegetable garden and Yami was hiding out ‘having a dump’. But when Finral tried to collect his stuff, it was as if someone had hidden his room and he could not find it for an hour. 

None of which made him feel any better. He was cross and irritable, which did not help the headache. It was not as if he wanted to leave, but dragging out the inevitable was only making things more difficult. But no matter how often he snapped at the others to leave him alone, they kept hanging around until he felt like his emotions were frayed. 

“Come and join me,” Vanessa said as she waved a bottle and a glass of wine at him.

“No. I’m busy,” he lied. 

“Do you want to test out my apple pie?” Charmy said and waved a covered plate under his nose.

“No. I’m not hungry.”

“......” said Gordon. He lifted a book of photographs and pointed out some that looked like Yami years ago.

“No. I don't want to look through old photo albums.” 

When Yami opened his mouth, Finral’s patience snapped. “No. No. No. I don’t want to train, or cook or read or anything. I just want a bit of peace. I’m going to my room.”

He rubbed his hand across his eyes to try to ease the headache, so he missed the concerned glance that Yami and Vanessa shared. 

Once he reached his room, he closed the door and shoved a chair under the handle. He sat on his bed and looked at his bag. First thing tomorrow morning, he thought. He could get away when everyone was sleeping. He let his eyes close against the sunlight and the headache. 

\--

Vanessa could read Finral like a book. A book written in big, blocky script for children learning to read. With pictures.

“He’s going to try and bolt,” she said to Yami. 

Yami downed the rest of his beer. “Yeah,” he said. 

“He thinks that because he won’t use his magic he’s no use to us. He thinks he's going before you throw him out.”

Yami said, “Yeah,” again

“And that is not true, because we wouldn’t give up on him even if he never used his magic again. He’s a Black Bull and that isn’t something he can just toss away.”

“He’s an adult. If he doesn’t want to be here he doesn’t have to.”

“You’re just going to let him run away. He nearly died three months ago. He had pneumonia. He’s still getting headaches. Do you care? You’re going to throw him out because he’s frightened.”

Yami put his glass back on the table. “It’s a magic knight squad, not a prison. If he wants to go he can go.”

“I can’t believe you. One minute you’re all cut up about him almost dying. The next you can’t wait to be shot of him. Is he really just a means of transportation to you?”

“I don’t like brooms.”

“I do not believe you,” Vanessa snarled. 

“I don’t care.” 

She crossed her arms and glared at him until he said. “I’m going for a walk.”

\----

Gordon watched Finral leave before dawn the next morning. He knocked on Yami’s door and found the man already awake.

“He gone?” Yami said. 

Gordon nodded.

\---

Finral did not have any plans beyond getting away from the mansion. Last time he had ‘skipped out on his responsibilities’, there had been a vague idea about the magic knight exam. This time he didn’t even have that level of direction. He took the broom and headed south.

He had packed enough food from the kitchen to do a week at most. After that, there might be work in one of the nearby towns. The blond girl who had dunked him in the river had worked in her mother’s Inn, so there were travellers passing through. Finral must have something to offer that was not just transportation. Perhaps he’d find work for a while to give himself time to get over the loss of the Bulls. 

And maybe it would give him a chance to get used to living without his magic. 

He ditched the broom after an hour. His balance was not quite as good as it had been and he was out of practice. As he walked he tried to tell himself he did not miss portals at all.

\--

He was cold and aching by the time he reached the outskirts of the little town. Maybe he should have taken Yami up on his offers of training after all. His legs ached and the lingering headache was threatening to build back up again. He pulled his warmer clothes out of his bag and wrapped himself up in his travelling blanket beside the little fire he built. He thought about his warm bed back in the base and reminded himself that he could not go back.

He fell asleep even though the sun had not quite set.

\--

He slept through the night despite the cold hard ground. When he woke the sun was peeking over the tops of the trees. The ground was still white with frost and he was shivering despite the travelling blanket he had wrapped himself in. His small campfire had long since burned down. A tree root had lodged itself into his back and he was stiff and sore.

Perhaps this had been a mistake?

He missed his bed in the mansion. He missed Charmy's breakfasts. But now was not the time to be getting cold feet. He was not going back. He shivered. Not just cold feet. He was cold everywhere. 

‘No time to feel sorry for yourself,’ he thought. This was his choice. 

He had to get moving. He had already missed part of the morning and he was going to need to find somewhere better to stay tonight. He pulled himself up and began to kick soil over the remains of his fire. He would eat his breakfast on the road. Once the campsite had been cleared, he rolled up his blanket and went to tie it to his pack. 

Sitting on top of the bag was a shiny red apple.

There was no sign of where it had come from. The hoar frost was still lingering on the ground, but there were no footprints. He looked around and he spotted a flash of red just beyond the trees. It was another apple. 

Okay. Maybe he was hallucinating? He picked up the apple to check. Solid. And not too cold so it could not have been there long. Who would creep up on a sleeping traveller in the woods, just to put an apple on their bag?

It was bizarre enough to be a Black Bulls prank, but could not see what the joke was meant to be. They were not known for subtlety, so not the Bulls. A kid maybe? He picked up his bag and went to the next apple. 

It did not surprise him when he picked up the second one that there was a third even further into the woods. Curiosity won out over caution. When he reached it, he could see another in the centre of a small clearing ahead. A trail of apples?

He checked around before he moved beyond the trees into the clearing. It could be a clever bandit trick to get him into the open to steal his belongings. Except Finral had been asleep when they placed the first apple on his pack. If someone had wanted to harm him or rob him, they would have had plenty of opportunity while he was sleeping. 

He moved into the small clearing towards the final apple and bent down to pick it up. Just an ordinary red apple, like hundreds he must have seen before. Was he meant to eat it? 

Four regular, ordinary apples, just abandoned in the middle of the woods. What on earth was that meant to mean?

Without warning he sensed something flying over his head. He recognised it as another apple at the same moment he heard a male voice saying, “Catch.”

His response was a mix of instinct and muscle memory. He made a small portal for the apple to fly into before it could hit the ground. It reappeared twenty feet away.

His brain took a moment to catch up with what it had just done. The apple landed on the ground with the others.

Oh shit. He made a portal. He was breathing too fast. He was going to pass out. He was going to feel that hand around his throat. The pain was going to come back and he was...

“Can you still do five?” the voice said.

Another apple flew over his head. 

A flash of memory. He had not thought of his mother’s garden for ages. He had spent hours there as a child practicing with the silly little transportation spell. He’d use stones or small pieces of wood and throw them through portals for hours. In the autumn he’d use the windfall apples.

For a moment, he was a child again. The magic sang in him as he made a portal for this apple and it emerged high in the air. Twice more he let the mana fill him without thinking. He let the last portal open upwards so that the apple lost speed and then landed in his outstretched hand with a thump.

He turned around. The Wizard King.

“Oh,” Finral whispered. “It’s you.”

“Hi Finral.”

He felt the giggles swell up inside him. There was an edge of hysteria in it. The honest to god real life Wizard King had found him in the forest and knew his name and he was throwing apples for him like he was a small boy and he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe.

The magic was still there. 

He didn’t realise he was sitting on the ground until the Wizard King sat beside him. There was a warm hand squeezing his shoulder.

“Slow down your breathing,” the Wizard King said.

Oh, that was not going to help. The Wizard King. Finral put his head between his knees and felt the heat of the other man sitting close. His heart was racing. His skin tingled. 

His magic was still there. 

It seemed to take forever for the laughter to subside. The surge of adrenaline went with it. He felt worn and exhausted. 

A memory flickered through his weariness. He had sat beside this man and played with portals and apples before. He remembered the apple coming over his head and the magic knight asking how many apples he could keep up. It was the first time he had ever heard someone say that his magic could be worthwhile. And the man had told him that it was possible that he could be a magic knight even if his father said he could not. Told him that Roulacase was a good name too.

It was one of the most pleasant memories of his childhood. It was worth the beating he received afterwards.

“You. You're the Wizard King.” Finral managed to say. “You were in my garden.”

Of course the Wizard King knew what he was talking about. “Yes. I suppose I was. Call me Julius.”

He found himself explaining, even though he felt sure that the Wizard King… no, he said call him Julius… Julius remembered the same day. “It was Langris’s birthday. You found me and I was playing with the apples in my mother’s garden.”

“Yes. I remember.”

“I’d never had anyone help me to use my magic like that before. You got me to do it with five, and I learned to catch them,” he indicated the apple he was still holding. “I got such a beating when my father found out someone had seen me. Langris didn’t believe you were real.”

“I’m sorry about the beating. That was my fault. You told me not to tell anyone I’d seen you, but I asked your father about his other son. I wanted to know all about you. He pretended not to know what I was talking about. He must have worked out that I met you.”

Finral was still lightheaded. “It’s okay. It was worth it. He was in such a mood that night that it would have been something else if not that. I got the feeling that the party didn’t turn out quite the way they wanted.”

“I still feel a bit sorry for that barn.”

That was enough to send Finral into hysterical giggles again. “They had to build it again when they realised they didn’t have anywhere to keep fodder for the animals. You should have seen Langris’s face.”

The Wizard King… Julius smiled. 

Without speaking Finral threw the apple he was holding into the air and let it bounce through four portals before bringing it back to his hand. “I thought I’d lost this.”

“I’ll say it again. It really is rather excellent magic. I’ve still never seen anyone surpass what you were doing that day, even with a grimoire.”

Finral sent the apple into the air again. The Wizard King threw two more so that three were soon bouncing around. Finral must have been rusty as he lost it at the addition of the fourth. “I’m out of practice,” he said. 

Julius handed over a water bottle and he drank. “Yes. Want to try again?”

“Sure.”

Finral felt the magic singing. It resonated through his body. His _soul_. How many of the headaches, the tears, all of it, were just due to suppressing his magic. He felt like a person again. The landscape of all his markers across the known world echoed in his awareness. He could be anywhere. Could be anything. He had his magic back. And it was wonderful.

He could keep five apples up with ease. Six. Seven. He lost it on the eighth, but he whooped in delight.

“You did that when you were little too,” Julius said and his smile was warm.

Finral’s laugh was honest and full of joy.

They continued until the sun was high in the sky. It was almost a shock when Julius said, “You need to rest now.”

Finral had been so caught up in the excitement that he had not realised he was trembling. His knees buckled underneath him and he half collapsed, half sat on the ground. The Wizard King handed him bread and cheese that he ate. He drank more water and could not help smiling.

The excitement lasted until he finished eating. 

“You didn’t just find me by accident did you?” he said, even as he realised it was a ridiculous idea that the Wizard King just happened to be wandering the woods in the same place as Finral’s half-hearted campsite. “They sent you after me, didn’t they?”

Julius nodded. “Yami wrote me a letter asking for my advice. At least I think that's what he was asking. His handwriting has never improved. I offered to come and find you.”

Finral frowned. “I don’t need a… a therapist.” He stumbled over the words. 

The Wizard King looked at one of the apples on the ground.

“Well, maybe I do, but…”

“I don’t think that’s what Yami meant, whether you need one or not. He thought you might need some space. I was a bit removed from the situation. It can get tough when your family are getting over involved and clingy.”

“My family has never been that,” Finral snorted.

“I don’t mean the Vaudes, Finral. I meant the Bulls. They are far more your family than those people I met at that party. A man who beat you because someone found out you existed is not family to keep close. But I came to the mansion when you were asleep. Yami, Vanessa, Gordon and Charmy are your family.”

Finral did not answer. 

“I think Yami thought you might have needed a friend.”

“And this was the plan? Find me and… and trick me into using my magic again. What would you have done if this hadn’t worked?” He felt angry for a moment, as though Yami was still trying to manipulate him into doing something he did not want to.

Julius shrugged and blushed a little. “To be honest, I didn’t think this would work. It was a long shot. I thought you would have forgotten about that day in the garden.”

“What were you going to do when I freaked out because someone was throwing apples at me?”

The Wizard King blushed harder. “I was going to explain it as a thing that I do when I walk in the woods.”

“That was a terrible plan. You would have sounded madder than me.”

“It was a risk, I agree. I’m glad it paid off.”

“So, if you aren’t here to make me find my magic, why did they send you after me? What do you want?”

“Finral Roulacase. I’m here because I told you a long time ago that we would find a place for you and your magic. I meant that. We don’t just throw out good Magic Knights because bad things happen. What happened in Ayre was not your fault. And even if it was, we would not have abandoned you. Have you met Yami? Vanessa interrupted a council meeting in her underwear looking for you. You, and not just your magic, are important to a lot of people.” He smiled. “I came after you to offer you a job.”

Finral did not know how to answer that. A job? “But if I couldn’t use my magic,” he whispered. Tears were pricking behind his eyes.

“Especially if you couldn’t use your magic. I’d have hoped that you would find your way back to it. But even if you never made a portal again, you would still have a place. With the Bulls, or in the Capital. You have friends and a family, Finral. They will not abandon you and they will not let you walk away with nothing.”

“But what could I have done? What use am I without my magic.”

“Oh, I had plans even before Yami wrote to me. That Roulacase blood was always a bit special. Do you know where we are?”

Finral narrowed his eyes, but said, “I always know where I am.”

“See. I had whole mapping projects set up for you.” He paused as though considering. “In fact, they are still there if you want a break from the squad for a bit. This.” he indicated the fallen apples. “We don’t have to tell anyone about it if you don’t want to. You could come and work for me for a while. The Bulls will be ready whenever you want to go back.”

It was no good. Finral burst into tears. 

The Wizard King gathered him into a hug. 

When the tears had stopped, Finral apologised because he really thought he had moved past the uncontrolled bouts of weeping. The Wizard King waved his apologies away and lifted one of the apples and asked, “So, do you think you can do eight?”

He could. And when it was time for lunch, the Wizard King… Julius, offered to take them both back to the Capital. But Finral declined and gritted his teeth. He made a proper portal home. The heavy hand on his shoulder kept the panic at bay, because who would hurt him when he had the Wizard King and the Black Bulls with him. 

When Yami saw them he said, “Oh, you’re back.”

And Finral felt like at last, maybe he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading. Please, let me know what you thought of it - good bits, bad bits, misspelled bits. Or even just a "I read this" is appreciated.


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